The first article we feature announces a stand for a very popular mobile point of sale device, the iPad. Although not featured in the articles this week I did run across a few websites showcasing surveys that computer manufacturers are taking tablets very seriously towards the business market. The potential for a brick and mortar, mom and pop company to accept credit cards anywhere is quite appealing.

The second article in the roundup was a very interesting announcement that I’m curious to see if it actually catches on with consumers. PayNearMe is launching a system that will allow shoppers to pay cash at a 7-Eleven POS for an online purchase.

The third and fourth articles this week blend well together. Grab a notepad with some quite time before you dig into these two informative articles on mobile commerce and presence for retailers. The first article explains what mobile commerce is and why small retailers should be learning it. The second article is a few tips that will help you establish a mobile retail presence.

Our last article this week is a great gesture from Mannequin Madness, some budget friendly ideas for retail shop window displays. They offer three great ideas that are cash friendly as well as resources for supplies and none of the displays include Mannequins.

1. IStand is a POS Pole for the iPad – If sturdy enough, this could be a blessing for some retail establishments that are starting to use the iPad as a mobile point of sale device. The stand has a place for a dock table and bolts shut around the iPad that covers the Home Button for security purposes. The stand swivels and tilts providing a custom interactive POS system for any business.

2. PayNearMe Announces Real-Time Cash Payment System That Enables Wide Range of Businesses to Serve Consumers Who Prefer Cash – Companies such as Amazon and Facebook have already jumped on the bandwagon with this new payment option. It will offer customers that don’t have a credit card, debit card or just prefer to pay cash the ability to pay at 7-Eleven stores for their e-commerce purchase.

3. What is Mobile Commerce, and Why Should You Care? – This extensive article will give you the insight to what mobile commerce is all about. Many small retailers do not know exactly what to consider, what’s involved and how it affects their business. This article will give you a much better understanding of the overall mobile side of retail.

4. Six steps for building a mobile retail presence – Once you’ve recognized yourself with mobile commerce, it’s time to dig in and get some tips for building a mobile business for your retail establishment. The future seems to be leaning in the direction mobile and online presence will be essential to bringing in new customers for traditional brick and mortar retailers.

5. Budget Friendly Resources for Fantastic Retail Window Displays – If you’re looking for a couple creative window displays and you’re on a budget this is a great place to start. This company provides some incredible ideas for catchy displays that won’t drain your pockets and will have customers stopping to look.

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Why should my opinion count and why should you listen to me as a consumer? The reason being, I shop for a family of four (which was 6 at one point in time), we are on a strict budget as many families throughout the country. Through the years it’s been coupons, discounts and only buying what is on sale. I also favor the local small retailers in my small town and luckily they are all very generous and friendly businesses.

About three months ago I started shopping at more “Big Box” stores such as Walmart and Meijer because the only stores we have in our small town consists of an independently owned very small Kroger grocery store and a Rite Aid Pharmacy. I assumed I would get better value and cheaper prices going to the larger stores…that was UNTIL both my small town Kroger and Rite Aid started ramping up their customer rewards programs.

Kroger has had a long time running customer card that allows for discounted groceries when shopping and presenting the cashier with your “card” at the POS. If you don’t have the “card” you’re in big trouble because you are going to pay extremely over inflated prices. For years we have joked about how Kroger only uses the customer loyalty card to bring people in with great sale prices only to find out they don’t get a discount if they don’t have their card. You always here the all to familiar saying in the checkout line “do you mind if I borrow your Kroger card?” The company did get smart at one point and offered for customers to enter their phone number in the point of sale, if registered with your card it will bring up your reward information.

The last few months Kroger has gone above and beyond my satisfaction as a loyal customer. The Kroger Rewards program now tracks my purchases and sends me specialized coupons at the end of the month for products I actually buy. They also have a fuel rewards program now that allows you to save a certain amount of money off a gallon of gas depending on the amount of money you spent in the store last month.

The specialized coupons (which they double up to $1) combined with the fuel rewards for discounted gas has me shopping at Kroger every week like clockwork. The friendly home town atmosphere combined with the helpful staff and super savings makes for an overall happy shopping experience.

Rite Aid has also implemented a new customer rewards program in which I was not so keen on joining and let me tell you why. For one, who needs another plastic card to add to their key chain you to have find and pull out at the point of sale? Second, Rite Aid named their card “The Wellness Card”, I don’t get my prescriptions there (we have an excellent small town pharmacist that we use) and most of the over the counter medication I purchase at Kroger with double coupons.

The other day, the courteous sale person pointed out to me that the card was valid to give you discounts throughout the store on a number of various items not just “Wellness” items. I told her, they needed to change the name. Regardless, I joined the program and am I excited. The company runs promotions like if you buy this product “x” you will receive the discount price as well as a coupon on your receipt for money off your next purchase in the store. That’s how it works…so I bought a few discounted items and received my coupon for $4 off my next purchase, wow that’s a great deal!

My complaint (a relatively small one to the manager) was that I always forget to bring the coupons back in and use them. Guess what he said….be a smart shopper and buy the things you need on sale, check out get the coupon and go back through the store and purchase the items that weren’t on sale using your coupon immediately for instant satisfaction! Well I’ll be, a nice, generous manager that puts his customer’s needs before the corporations, what a sigh of relief.

The point I’m trying to make is as a small retail business you need to do everything possible to retain and gain the customers of your local area. Every one knows that customer service goes a long way in the retail world and adopting a loyalty program is a sure fire way to get those customers shopping.

As a small business establishment you have many options when it comes to customer rewards or loyalty programs. Companies such as Repeat Rewards will help you implement a fast and easy loyalty program or have a free giveaway day at your store. There are a number of ways you could reward your customers by using your imagination and putting your self in their shoes to bring grand ideas to your store.

Small retailers can start small, print your loyalty card as a business card and stamp it each time the customer makes a purchase then offer them a discount when the card is full. An idea from our local small town pharmacist I mentioned earlier is to have a staff member clip coupons from the local newspaper and place them in a basket at the point of sale for customers to look through as they are checking out.

Start thinking of ways to gather local support from your customers while providing them with the ultimate shopping experience.  Check out some simple to implement rewards programs.

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1. Ten Steps for Lucrative Point of Sale Displays – The techniques outlined in this article will help you bring in more money at your POS displays. This is now longer limited to large brand stores, small retail shops across the country are adopting this form of advertising. Read on to learn ten short ways to make your profits rise using point of sale display advertising.

2. Calif. Assembly passes ban on single-use bags: Senate vote is next – Although this will not have an effect on California small retailers until June of 2013, it will play a major role in changing the way businesses pack the customers goods for carry-out. The California Assembly has voted to ban all single-use disposable bags and also any paper bag that is not at least 40% recycled content. This ban will start at the beginning of the 2012 year for larger chains such as supermarkets and then roll into the small retail sector starting in June of 2013.

3. A Green Approach to Office Technology – Going green seems to be the new trend that many retailers are adopting. This article outlines a few simple steps small retailers can use to reduce energy costs and their carbon footprint. One answer is to start purchasing energy star compliant computers, point of sale equipment and peripherals. Taking this initiative could also bring tax credits to your business while providing you with a cheaper energy bill.

4. 8 Ways To Listen To Your Customers – this is informative and laid out very nice for you to learn 8 different ways to listen to your customers. The author points out that for every one person that complains there are 26 customers who do not but listening to them in various ways can give your retail establishments a step up and avoid customers who are unhappy.

“Whether your customers are filling out a standardized form or having a one-on-one conversation with you, asking them for feedback allows you to get deeper insight into how they feel about your business, and what you can do to make it better.”

5. The Small Retailer’s Survival Guide Part 9 Range Changes and Range Extensions – A very uplifting article that encourages the small retail industry that they can rise above and beyond large chain stores with the advantage of one little thing, stock. This is one area that large chains seem to fall into a trap of not knowing, long wait times and too much research. Small retailers have the speed and flexibility to order stock on the fly and also know right away what is selling and what’s not selling.

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1. What Retail Point of Sale (POS) System is best for my business? – This is not your typical article about buying the right POS. The author gives you very poignant questions you should consider and answer before attempting your point of sale purchase.

2. 101 Tips from 50 Small Business Bloggers – This article is invaluable and a must read for all our viewers. There are 101 tips from small retail business just like yours. These are tips you can use and put in place immediately to help conquer any obstacle you may encounter.

3. Three rules for digital signage audio in the retail environment – The retail customer experience pull it off again with a fantastic article about digital signage. This is one of the latest, most effective advertising technologies but it can be ineffective even annoying if not used right. Take these three rules for displaying your audio digital, implement them and reap the rewards.

4. The Slow Drift From Great to Good – This writer makes a great analogy comparing the way to get a good cup of coffee to the way small retail hospitality has declined. Just like the taste of your coffee dwindles as it ages so does the generous experience from your local retail shop. The change is slow and you might not notice but this spells it out and gives you something to think about.

5. The enduring wisdom of Mom & Pop – A truly inspiring story about the time when small retail shops lined the city streets. It was not just a matter of retail style it was about the values, the experience and always the friendships.

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1. Which Comes First, Stickers or The Phones? – “Go-Tags” is an interesting concept from First Data Corp. that will be available at some retail chains around the country. A Go-Tag is a contactless sticker that can be attached to mobile handsets for use at a point of sale. First Data Corp. has already made a deal with Visa to expand merchant acceptance in order to peak consumer interest.

CEO of product innovation Barry McCarthy hopes the demand will spur network operators and handset manufacturers to integrate the feature into future phones.

“We think we can kick-start this market.” he says.

It seems consumers were fast to accept the stickers and on average used it more frequently than conventional cards.

2. Panasonic broadens POS support – Panasonic has opened up its support base for their leading hardware platforms to add seven POS management software systems. This allows those software providers to offer their POS suite on Panasonic’s hardware including the new Stingray workstation. Read the rest of the article to view the seven POS software suites that will easily integrate into the Panasonic platform.

3. 5 Things Small Retailers Need to Compete with the Big Box – Great article for any small retailer that has faced the fear of a large retail corporation moving in on their territory.

“It is only the small merchant that can truly compete with big box.”

The list contains five things that you should do to beat out the Big Box competition. Be proud you’re a small retailer and remember customers love a personal touch.

4. Point-of-sale license issue aids hunters – Pennsylvania has jumped on the bandwagon that many states have already joined…POS Hunting Licenses! These hunters can now join the modern age by purchasing their licenses through a system the Pennsylvania Game Commission calls appropriately “Point of Sale”. The system will let hunters have a new smaller license that will be easier to obtain rather than the old large paper tags on your back.

“It will provide opportunities for the Game Commission to monitor license administration, license sales, create strategic business plans based on trend analysis and, most importantly, create marketing plans based on more accurate customer demographics.’’

5. Want to Increase Revenue? Reduce Your Inventory – When I first started reading this article I thought it was a backwards concept. As the article continued it began to make sense less on-hand inventory is a great way to increase your revenue! This is a must read for any retail business especially specific niche type stores. Grab a pencil and paper, follow the steps outlined in the article and you may be able to reduce unnecessary inventory to help with your overall costs.

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1. Low-Cost Marketing Ideas to Help You Ring Up More Sales – Another great marketing article from the Specialty Retail Expert. Patricia discusses five low cost marketing ideas to improve your overall business. These ideas are simple and straightforward she suggests giving away a monthly prize or a product giveaway promotion with a purchase. Customers love when they get something for free and it will keep them coming back for more.

2. Penney’s ‘smart fixture’ rolls out as next technological step – This is amazing technology that you must read about! J.C. Penney has taken shopping to a whole new level by implementing the smart fixture. The smart fixture is a door frame size structure that has a touchscreen and runs an application allowing for customers to scan an item, learn more about the different features and even have the information e-mailed to them. J.C.Penney has applied for a patent on a smart fixture they plan to test next month in a few stores…it’s called “findmore jcp interactive store”.

3. Live chat drives sales, satisfaction, but only when executed honestly – It’s amazing to learn that a live chat application on a website can bring more satisfaction to a customer than calling the store customer service hotline. James Brickers discusses the benefits and downfalls of offering live chat to your web-based customers. Number one no-no don’t use chat bots and always train your chat operators to be superior in customer service.

4. Which businesses should use Mobile Point of Sale Equipment? – We all know the answer to that question…any business that wants to keep their customers happy. Times are tough economically right now and the fastest ways to lose a customer is poor service and long wait times. This article discusses various options for mobile point of sale along with logical reasons every retailer should be using it.

5. Bravestorm unveils click-to-call for small retailers – This goes hand in hand with the live chat article. Bravestrom has announced a beta version of BoldCall Express click to call. It is an online lead generation tool to help retailers connect with their customers. A button placed on a website is clicked by the customer requesting that a representative from the business call them. The calls can be routed a variety of different ways to suit the business using the feature. It’s affordable, it’s new and it will bring personalization to your web based customers.

“Our goal was to make click-to-call technology easily accessible to any business,” says Bravestorm president and CEO Steve Castro-Miller.

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The biggest problem for Point Of Sale system vendors are the traditional cash registers. Cash registers not only take a big part of the market, they also influence what shop owners expect from a POS terminal. Many shop owners switching from a cash register to a complete Point Of Sale simply want the same functionality and the ease of use of their old equipment.

I have done some POS implementations where I delivered exactly that: a POS system configured to emulate a cash register, with a few buttons on the sales screen to book sales on the various product groups, but without inventory control, reporting and all other features that make a POS system worth its money. The idea is to provide them the same way of working in a new environment to get the employees used to the new system. Once they now how to sell using the old-fashioned buttons I have them take an inventory so they can start selling using the barcodes on the items. Little by little they get deeper into the available features of the system, and the system becomes more valuable.

Business Information (or business intelligence) is what differentiates a full Point Of Sale system from a cash register. Registering your sales is only part of the equation, only once you know the costs of each sale you will be able to optimize your stocks, focus your promotions and take balanced management decisions.

Some shop owners don’t understand that, since they are still stuck in the ‘cash register’ way of thinking. For them a POS terminal is nothing more than an expensive cash register with way too many bells and whistles. Changing the way of thinking of these clients is by far the biggest challenge in a migration project.

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